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DeMar Derozan’s career game rallies Toronto Raptors to victory over Dallas Mavericks

Toronto Raptors forward DeMar DeRozan reacts after making a basket against the Dallas Mavericks during second half NBA basketball action in Toronto on Wednesday, January 22, 2014. Photo: THE CANADIAN PRESS/Nathan Denette

TORONTO — DeMar DeRozan had a career-high 40 points as the Toronto Raptors rallied to beat the Dallas Mavericks 93-85 on Wednesday night.

DeRozan finished 15-of-22 from the field, nine-of-14 from the free-throw line and hit the only three-pointer he tried as Toronto (21-20) earned its first win in three games. He put an exclamation point on his outstanding performance by recording the steal and going the length of the court to score and put the Raptors up 92-85 with 1:48 remaining.

Grievis Vazquez scored 17 points and Jonas Valanciunas added 12 as Toronto earned its third straight win over the Mavericks.

Monta Ellis had 21 points for Dallas (25-19) while former Raptors Jose Calderon and Vince Carter had 13 and eight points, respectively. Brandan Wright also had 13 points.

Carter spent his first six-plus NBA seasons with the Raptors, winning the ’98-’99 top rookie award and slam dunk contest (2000) while with the club. But the player dubbed ‘Air Canada’ for his high-flying performances while in Toronto was routinely booed every time he touched the ball.

Calderon, though, received a solid ovation in the pre-game introductions. He spent eight years with the Raptors before being dealt to Detroit last January and ultimately signing as a free agent in the summer with Dallas.

DeRozan’s layup and free throw put Toronto ahead 85-82 with 3:38 left before Amir Johnson’s three-pointer with 2:59 remaining gave the Raptors an 88-84 advantage. Valanciunas’s field goal with just under five minutes left put Toronto ahead 82-81, their first lead of the contest since early in the first.

DeRozan’s 15-point outburst in the third pulled Toronto to within 73-68 of the Mavericks heading into the third. Vazquez’s three-pointer with under a minute remaining cut Dallas’s lead to 71-68 but Ellis’s field goal rounded out the scoring and gave the visitors their five-point advantage.

Vazquez’s 11 points helped Toronto outscore Dallas 31-17 in the second to cut the Mavericks’ half-time advantage to 51-46. After failing to register a three-pointer in the first, the Raptors were 4 of 6 from the arc in the second to turn a game Dallas led by 21 points at one time into a much closer affair. DeRozan led the way for the home side with 16 points while Calderon and Carter had 12 and eight points, respectively, for the Mavs.

Calderon and Carter helped stake Dallas to a 34-15 first-quarter lead, scoring 10 and five points, respectively. Calderon anchored a 13-0 run with eight points that put the Mavericks ahead 21-8 before Derozan — who had 12 of Toronto’s points — scored the Raptors’ first basket in nearly five minutes.

Carter added insult to injury with a dunk and subsequent free throw that put Dallas ahead 24-10. The Mavericks shot 14 of 24 (58.3 per cent) from the field and 3 of 5 from the arc while Toronto was 0-for-5 from three-point range and 5 of 19 (26.3 per cent) overall.

NOTES — Carter, who averaged 23.4 points per game in his 403 career appearances with Toronto, turns 37 on Sunday . . . Calderon remains Toronto’s all-time leader in assists (3,770) and free-throw percentage (.887) . . . Raptors head coach Dwane Casey spent three seasons as an assistant with Dallas under coach Rick Carlisle, helping the squad capture the 2011 NBA title. Casey improved to 3-2 as a head coach versus his former team . . . Also on Dallas’s roster is veteran centre Samuel Dalembert, a native of Haiti who grew up in Montreal and is in his 11th NBA season . . . Toronto entered action having made 105 three-pointers this month, third-most in the NBA.